I recently heard the song, Anything Like Me, which is basically about a father describing how his newborn son’s future behavior was bound to serve as payback for his former ways. However, in the end, it’s a song about life stages, lessons learned and the love shared between a father and son. For me, it was an encouraging reminder that when our kids make similar mistakes we did, it’s not the end of the world. However, it also inspired the hope that they don’t have to make the mistakes we did. In fact, it’s my hope my kids will be better than me – especially in three key areas:

Faith: Without faith in Christ, we go through life hindered. For example, I have known what it’s like to have a strong walk with Christ and a weak one. For growing up, I thought believing in Jesus was good enough – but today, I know how much I missed out on by not being fully surrendered. It’s like being on a football team, but never playing in the game. Thankfully, today, my family is not only on the team, but are active participants and seeking to have our coach, God, use us in every possible way. Therefore, my hope is my kids will never have to know what it’s like to be on the bench through “unsurrender”. Instead, may their faith be greater than my own and may they be used powerfully by God for many years to come (Ephesians 4:13).

Family: I’ve shared how my wife and I both came from homes impacted by divorce, and although, I was fortunate to have loving step-parents, divorce is still a hardship I pray my kids will never know. My wife and I, by the grace of God, have today a loving, Christ-centered marriage, and we are committed to one another and our family. Therefore, even though we have made our share of mistakes, my hope is for my children to have even better marriages than my own. In this way, I pray they will be better parents, better spouses and build stronger families (Psalm 128:3). Thus, establishing a trend to be multiplied for generations to come.

Fruits: God desires us all to be fruitful (John 15:8). This means we contribute to His kingdom and to others, like a tree abounding with sweet, attractive fruit. Thankfully, God is able to produce more fruit through me today than He was when my life was not surrendered to Him. Thus, my hope is my children too, will have much more fruit than me. I hope theirs is sweeter and more abundant than my own, because they never waste time being distant from God.

Application: “Growing Giants” – Deuteronomy 4:9
Isaac Newton declared, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants“. Similarly, may we be wise enough to make the sacrifices, invest the time and give the love that will present us the opportunity to serve as “giants” in our own children’s lives. Then, in time, they will grow to be giants for their own. However, apart from God, none of this is possible – for to be giants, we must first be giants of faith and that always begins with Christ